Are you following God or trying to outrun the Chaser?

As ITV invites viewers to Beat the Chasers, Jim Burns reflects on how we approach life.

I enjoy watching quiz programmes on TV, seeing how many answers I can get right – or not! One of my favourite shows is The Chase, which is one of the most successful and longest running game shows on UK television. It is so popular that it has been franchised to many other countries and inspired many spin-offs – including Beat the Chasers, which is airing its sixth season on ITV on Thursday evenings.

The show’s original format sees a team of four strangers compete individually against a professional quizzer, the Chaser. Initially each contestant has one minute to answer as many questions as possible, earning £1,000 for each correct answer. They take this amount to the table where they face the Chaser and aim to get back to the team without being caught. The player starts three steps down the board, requiring five correct answers to reach home. If they give a wrong answer, they have a greater risk of being caught and out of the game.

The contestant can accept a high or low offer from the Chaser, which will decrease or increase the possibility of being caught. Sometimes, the offer is a minus amount, taken from the total the team’s already won. Many of them say: ‘I couldn’t face my family or colleagues if I accepted that!’ However, they miss the point: the first priority is for as many people as possible to get back, hopefully with a greater spread of knowledge in the group.

Beat the Chasers is loosely similar in concept and structure, but sees one contestant at a time face multiple Chasers. That change in format highlights that The Chase, by contrast, is ultimately a team game. In our lives as Christians, we can often forget that day-to-day living requires is a group effort, as we help others and they help us to deal with the challenges that come our way.

Whether individually or as a group, some people can sadly think of God as the Chaser, always trying to catch them out. How often do you think that you are cleverer than God and know all the answers?

In the Book of Job, God challenged Job: ‘Were you there when I made the world?… Have you ever in all your life commanded a day to dawn?… Do you know where the light comes from or what the source of darkness is?’ (38:4–19 Good News Bible).

None of us can answer ‘yes’ to questions like that and yet God isn’t interested in us because of how much knowledge we have. God made us and wants us to be the best versions of ourselves. God isn’t the Chaser: he wants us to chase him, as we try our best to follow Jesus’ example together.

Reflect and respond

• Spend some time reading through the story of Job. Do you listen while God speaks? (see 42:3). Do you look to see God with your own eyes? (see 42:5).
• Are you currently trying to go it alone, without God and without others?
• How can you be a chaser of God in the year ahead?